~Who do you Say that "I AM?"

[Jayyycuuup]

This thread is two fold, Part one and Part two bearing on the same scripture- but to be discussed in two different settings.

Luke 9:20 (partial)

"But what about you?" He asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Who do you say Jesus is and what does He mean to you?

Luke 9:20 (the rest)

Peter answering said, "The Christ of God."

Also:

Mathew 16:13-15

¹³ Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked His followers, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴ They said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

What do you think Peter means by this, "The Christ of God?"

[missmuffet]

Who do you say Jesus is and what does He mean to you?

Jesus Christ is the Living Son of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

[Jayyycuuup]

Who do you say Jesus is and what does He mean to you?

Jesus Christ is the Living Son of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

Nice bopeep

Redemption, restoration and recreation!

Amen!

Though just to pick your brain a bit more, when you say Jesus is the Son of the living God- what do you mean?

[missmuffet]

I mean that God is not Dead and that He is Living in us.

And by the Christ of God....The Son of God?I am not sure what you want here.You have God...The Father....God....The Son and God the Holy Spirit.The Trinity.One God but three distinct persons.

[JTC]

Mathew 16:13-15

¹³ Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked His followers, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴ They said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

What do you think Peter means by this, "The Christ of God?"

I think Peter meant Jesus is the Messiah. The one that was prophesied to come in all the scriptures. After all, Peter was a Jew of his time, and not ignorant of the scriptures.

And I guess they keep using the phrase the Son of the LIVING God, because too many people were still into worshiping lifeless idols. It's one thing to worship a lifeless idol, and another to worship a fallen angel. They aren't lifeless, but they're still evil. God handles it differently when a society is worshiping living evil angels. I think history has shown God has virtually wiped those societies off the map. He just left a little proof that they once existed, so that we would know not to do that.

[Jayyycuuup]

I mean that God is not Dead and that He is Living in us.

And by the Christ of God....The Son of God?I am not sure what you want here.You have God...The Father....God....The Son and God the Holy Spirit.The Trinity.One God but three distinct persons.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. . . .

But I wasn't looking for anything in particular- was just continuing conversation concerning the verse.

[Jayyycuuup]

JTC

I think Peter meant Jesus is the Messiah. The one that was prophesied to come in all the scriptures.

I agree, some translations even say "Messiah" instead of "The Christ."

John 6:68

Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

With that, I also agree towards Peter's understanding of Christ! Amen.

It's one thing to worship a lifeless idol, and another to worship a fallen angel.

I am interested in what you mean by this? Each are adultery in the eyes of the Lord, so I do not think whether it be lifeless (formed by the hands of man) or an angel, makes a difference. . .mind explaining a bit?

[xero]

Exodus 3:14 "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

John 18:3 "Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? 5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. 6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. 7 Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 8 Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none."

I know they dont capitalize I AM in John 18:4 but seeing these officers of the chief priests and Pharisees fall to the ground leaves no doubt they understood He meant I AM as in Exodus 3:14 and the he being italicized lets us know it was added to the text.

Another example of the text not being capitalized but the reaction, though adverse, confirms that they understood I am to mean I AM:

John 8:56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."

Another reason why I find this important:

John 12:27 "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."

Father glorify thy name not my name. And again:

John 12:44 "Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."

I AM is who sent Him and I AM is the name being glorified. Im no student of linguistics but I know that I AM comes from HAYAH and that YAH is also part of many hebrew names including Jesus. From what I gather the consensus is Jesus means YAH saves or YAH is Salvation and that makes perfect sense because Jesus is the only name we can be saved by. We can only be saved by YAH who is Salvation.

Im using a worldly concept but think of the commandments as intellectual property and the name of HAYAH is the brand or logo. I came to think of this because of these verses:

This made me think of trademarks with the sign upon the hand and frontlet of the eyes:

Deuteronomy 11:18 "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes."

This made me think of the law, I AM, being nailed to the cross (combined with Jesus saying, "I have told you that I AM if therefore ye seek me" when being arrested):

Colossians 2:14 "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;"

While going about the business of living I pondered selling clothing and the legal process of trademarking and copyrighting various labels and images. I came to understand the nature of sin in a different way because of the worldly laws involved in intellectual property. Sin is like trademark infringement of Gods image. God is sovereign and He owns everything to us, eternal patent, trade secrets, trademark, copyright, etc.

It was illustrated with Babel that we have been seeking to make names for ourselves. The idea of making a name for ourselves can be understood by the many households we now have by way of surname. Surnames are useful but we all share common ancestry in Adam who is from God and look at the repercussions of losing sight of that has had with all the confusion in the world. Confusion is the nicest way I can say how sin has divided us.

Im sorry I didnt directly answer why Peter called Jesus Messiah or Christ to begin with but I truly believe that Jesus asking who do you say I AM had part to do with the Holy Spirit revealing it to Peter besides the fact Jesus asked Simon, whom He later called Peter, to walk with HIm and he was compelled to follow. I cant imagine walking up to anyone randomly and saying follow me that they would listen, especially when they were working. I can conjecture maybe at first he thought Jesus was only a prophet but I dont know.

[PortiaSamantha]

Both Luke and Matthew say the same thing but it's a matter of wording; Christ of God and Christ the son of the living God means the same thing.

Now to the actual meaning; there are three elements to this verse of scripture, Jesus being "Christ/Messiah/Savior", Jesus being the "Son" and God being "Living"

The element of Jesus being saviour calls one to enquire; what are we being saved from and what are we being restored to because we cannot just be saved and not restored to anything,

The second element addresses the enquiry of the first element; He saves from our fallen state into "Sonship", this we find in John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (Christ/Savior)".

The third element of "Living God", transcends the mere distinguishing of the most high God from the dead Idols that were worship, it goes further to revealing God as the source of life and remember what Jesus said "I have come so you may have life and have it abundantly" so we are saved and restored to sonship but it proceeds further so us acknowledging that God is the source of the abundant life we are journeying towards